Sharp N5000 Review LC-55N5300U, LC-50N5000U, LC-60N5100U, LC-65N5200U, LC-43N5000U
1080p LCD-LED TV with Wifi
by Robert Wiley, Senior Editor
Hisense-Sharp Takeover
Hisense, a large Chinese manufacturer licensed the Sharp name in June of 2015. Hisense is not a well known brand in the U.S., but it is in China, where the company has the number 1 market share in units sold. It's also reportedly #3 globally in units sold with over 16 million TVs produced. Hisense is focusing on low priced models as well as high quality featured TVs all the way up to THX certification in its bid to gain U.S. Market share. Hisense purchased the Sharp brand and the Mexico assembly facility in a $23M deal. The Sharp models will purportedly still use the Sharp LCD panels in their production.
Picture Quality
The N8000 series bumps the resolution to 4K UHD, and has solid picture quality with a good front and center viewing black levels and color saturation. HD 720P, 1080p signals and lower are upconverted by the Revelation upscaler. This is one of the most important elements of any 4K TV as there is still little available content. Most of what we watch is still 1080p (if we're lucky) but mostly 720p and 480p.
High Dynamic Range
The big focus TV feature for 2016/2017 is HDR (High Dynamic Range). HDR extends the range that a pixel in an LCD TV can show. This applies to the brightness and luminosity of images. Contrast is enhanced by increased brightness rather than deeper blacks. Rather than just increase the brightness of the picture overall though, the real purpose of HDR is to increase contrast in various image areas of the picture. It improves the presentation in the brighter parts of the picture and this creates more contrast with surrounding darker parts of the picture. Since picture contrast is one of the primary features in improving perceived depth, HDR is considered a major picture quality improvement even though it may not increase the overall contrast of the panel a lot. Bright colors receive enhanced purity. A good HDR image will show better shadow detail, and the scenes that you will notice the most are those with light illuminating images, especially outside sunlight effects, or a room that has sunlight coming in through a window and illuminating parts of the room. HDR content is and will be in short supply for a while.
Colors and black levels do degrade at side angles starting at 18 degrees off center. Brightness levels very good. There is some perceived lack of depth in on-screen images.
Full Array Local Dimming
The big difference between the N8000U and the N8100U is that the N8100U has Full array local dimming while the N8000U has multi zone dimming. The full array option is more complete, giving the viewer better contrast in more refined areas of the screen. Both models have some benefit of the dimming exercise and are controlled by (LED backlight) zonal manipulation in such a way that they can help increase contrast in various areas of on-screen images. In a 70”+ TV they are especially beneficial. We give the N8000U an average rating in local dimming processing and presentation, and the N8100U and above average rating but the feature in both is welcome.
A stunning 4K image displayed on the N8000.
Features
The N8000 series is a serious 4K and HDR combo value contender. It has a built in streaming Apps selection including the usual suspects that you use most like Netflix, Amazon on Demand, and You Tube. Built in Dual Band Wifi. An Apps store and web browser. And a media player/receiver. It also has the Sharp “Aquomotion” designation which manipulates the backlight in order to show a perceived smoother picture (increased Hz rate designation). Gaming input lag is very average on this TV, not up to par with mid range Samsung, LG and Vizio models.
Price/Value
The 70N8100 sells for around $2100. Add around $500 to the larger 75N8000U. Both models are on the low end of the pricing spectrum for their respective feature sets compared to Samsung, LG and Sony. You get a good upscaling engine, HDR TV with wide color gamut capability, an included media receiver, good upscaling of HD signals from the Revelation upscaler and local dimming.
(A note about our reviews. Our professional reviewers begin our reviews with our initial impressions about quality of picture and features inclusion, then we add specifications, then value and pricing information, and finally, ratings. When our reviews contain an overall rating, they are complete. Thank you for reading!)
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Having reviewed and written about Television Technology for over 10 years, Wiley never tires of researching the newest qualitative trends related to the technology. Most people do not get excited about possibilities behind the latest video engine... Wiley does. Read more about Robert |
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